But to find those others, the search will have to continue. Today about 30 civilian volunteers and three units from the Coast Guard continued to search the area of the Turneffe and Glover's Reef Atolls for the other missing men. It turned up nothing, and after 8 days of searching, Lieutenant Commander Johnny Borland of the Coast Guard says it has moved from search and rescue to search and recovery.
Lt. Com. Johnny Borland, Coast Guard
"The Coast Guard has been out for seven days searching. This is day 8 and we have to be practical in what are doing. Effectively what we are engaged in right now is a search and recovery operation. We are out there vigilant. We still expect and we hope to find these people but we must face reality based on facts; the time these people were at sea, the possibility of their survival
chances. It all depends on how long a person can survive without food and water without having on a lifejacket to how long they can brave the elements and stay alive.
Five to seven days it becomes a recovery operation. In this case we did not say recover because we ourselves were very hopeful with the family all the way. We believe in the will to survive for these gentlemen and that's why we were out there with our hopes high that we shall still find them. Later on today the Coast Guard along with the search and rescue agencies will determine what the next stage this operation will move into."
Spokeswoman for the families, Audrey Matura-Shepherd says the families of the six still missing are preparing for the worst for still hoping for the best. She says search efforts will continue but according to her, the police need to play a more active role in the investigation.
Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Spokeswoman for Families
"The families have realized there is a strongly possibility of there being some kind of foul play and if that is the case - there is not much citizens could do. We could go out there but we don't have the power to search, arrest, and detain them and stuff like that. So what we want is for those relevant authorities especially meaning basically the police to come forward and work with us in more numbers and with a more strategic plan.
We believe there is someone there that has information, someone out there that can tell us something or can tell the police more. We don't want to get them in trouble. If you don't want to tell the police, call us and tell us on our hotline. All we can is that final tip that we could find them, dead or alive. The families want to find their loved ones. They need that closure.
We want people who have not gone out to help to come and help because if it was your loved one out there, you would want us to do the same for you and we would do the same, we keep on searching."
The men still missing are 48-year-old Darrington Escobar, 50-year-old Mauro Ismael Quiroz, his son, 31-year-old Abner Quiroz, 53-year-old Nick Egbert Nicholson, 42-year-old Gustavo Briceno, and 25-year-old Elon Reyes. Anyone interested in assisting with the search efforts can call the hotline at 205-2653. Anyone with information is asked to call the police on their emergency line - 911 - or the 0-800-922-tips hotline.
